Paying It Forward

There’s a pay-it-forward crafty plan underway, and lots of bloggers appear to be joining in!

So, here’s how this pay-it-forward thing works:
I will send a surprise gift to the first three commenters on this post (and if there are more I might just send out more). The gift will be a handmade surprise by me and I will send it to you sometime in the next 365 days. All you need to do is the following:

• Leave me a comment and include your email address (if you profile doesn’t link back) so I can get in touch with you about your mailing address and some other information about yourself.
• To complete signing up, you MUST play along too by blogging a similar post and pledging to make a surprise for the first 3 people who comment on it.

So, do you want to play along?
Comment below, and I’ll send a thoughtful gift to the first three people who do.
Let's pay it forward to one another!

Matching Bulletin & Chalk Boards

I've been in desperate need of a bulletin board. Two bulletin boards, actually. But the one I'm showing here on is for my craft area. I also need something to write goals on and update each day or week, like a chalk board. So I got to work.

My mother-in-law has tons of picture frames. She even has a couple of bulletin boards that she isn't using. And she kindly let me have what I needed for my project.

I found the fabric that I'd originally used to upholster our headboard. I ended up hating it on the headboard because there was just too much surface area for the print to look nice. So I reupholstered the headboard last year (which I'll post about later) and kept the printed fabric for something like this. I had planned on making throw pillows with it (and I have plenty left so I probably still will). But then I needed fabric for this project. It's perfect for it.


Here's my supplies.

ancient bulletin board (check out that beat up metal frame around it!)
large picture frame
fabric
thumbtacks
masonite (or other type of thin plywood type of stuff)
chalkboard paint
paint brush (use a roller for a perfectly smooth finish)
frame hanging hardware
scissors
a pen
staple gun (but I should have used a hot glue gun... you'll see why...)
masking tape (to hold things in place when you need it to)


Now, the bulletin board was a breeze!

I cut the fabric a few inches larger than the bulletin board.

I tacked in the corners.

Then I marked every half inch and pushed thumbtacks into each marking, pulling the fabric tight as I went.

I wrapped the fabric around to the back or the board, folded the raw edges under, and tacked it in place.

I put the hanging hardware on.
This bulletin board was tricky, though. The back of it is corkboard as well and wouldn't hold the hardware on very well. Problem solved: E6000 glue and a paint stir stick.

And I was done. It took me about an hour to do all of that (excluding 24 hours for the E6000 glue to dry). So fast and easy!

Do you like how my husband put himself on my chalkboard 'To Do' list (and left check-off boxes for every day of the week)?
How I love him. 

Then came the chalk board. It started out easy, but it got difficult and frustrating. That chalkboard itself was a cinch to paint, but the frame is the part that wasn't so easy. Looking back now, I know what I should have done instead. So if you want to make one of these yourself, please please take my advice and save yourself from the frustration that I put myself through!

I found this tintable chalkboard paint.

I had planned on a black board, but when I saw that I could color it, I just couldn't resist. I spent the extra $4 and got it in "coffee" because I love browns, and it would perfectly match the fabric I was using.

A roller is recommended for painting this stuff, but I like the slightly textured look a brush gives, so I decided to make it look more vintage and risk using a brush, hoping it wouldn't compromise being able to write clearly on it.

As it was drying I got to work covering the frame with the fabric. Here's where all of my mistakes happened.

What I did was use four long fabric strips to wrap around each side of the frame.
What I should have done is cut a rectangular piece a couple of inches bigger than the frame, like I did with the bulletin board, and then cut the center out.

And then the frame itself... I should not have used a rock-hard old oak frame.
And when I realized it was a rock-hard, old oak frame, I should have resorted to hot glue instead of a staple gun.

However, since I'm stubborn and my head is apparently much harder than that frame is, I got a hammer to finish driving in those staples. What actually happened was I squished and bent the staples into the frame instead of driving them in any farther.

One thing I did right was use Fray Check to keep the corners and raw edges from fraying.

So, when you want to wrap a frame in fabric, use a whole rectangle of fabric.
Cut out the center, leaving a couple of inches of width to wrap around the frame.
Lay the frame over the fabric. Make angled cuts in the fabric toward the corners.
Hot glue the fabric into place.
Fray Check the corners.
Install hanging hardware, secure chalkboard in frame, and hang up.

It's recommended to rub chalk all over the board and then erase it before the first use. This coats the chalkboard with a nice layer of chalk dust and helps it erase more evenly.

The next one I make will be so much simpler and I will follow those instructions. It'll probably look better too. Just you wait and see.

Linked up to: Polkadot Pretties

Food on Friday: Cheeseburger Filled Biscuits

A couple of Fridays ago I posted about the apple pie biscuits I made. Then I got kind of hooked on filling biscuits with stuff. So I tried making cheeseburger filled biscuits.

Real healthy, I know. 

But I wanted to try it.

They were good, but I do recommend putting more ground beef and cheese in the middle.

It's fun to dip them in ketchup. It seems like the kind of thing that would be really fun for kids to eat. It's kind of novel, even if it is more difficult than just eating a regular cheeseburger.

Thursday's Thoughts: Some things I may be guilty of.

I may have started following too many other blogs at once.
I may have gotten behind on my projects to make and post about.
I may have ignored my sweet 4-month-old son more than once due to obsessing over my blog.
I may be jealous of other bloggers who have 124 comments on a single post.
I may wonder about what I'm doing wrong that I don't have more followers.
I may feel defeated since blogging feels so much more fulfilling when others comment on my posts.
I may have a hard time staying organized in my in-law's house & it affects all other aspects of my life.
I may have given up on one or two things blogging-related because I'm out of energy 80% of the time.
I may be doubting myself and if I can really be a successful blogger.
I may have ignored the pile of clothes in the corner of my bedroom because blogging was the priority.
I may need to take a break already.

Really, I need to blog for me again. How did I stop doing that? I've only been doing this for a couple of months. Seriously, self?

It's silly that my self esteem can be so dependent on some strangers that I've never met and all I want is for them to think I'm amazing because of my writing and photographs and crafty skills. What have I turned into?

If you asked my brothers and parents, they'd tell you that I've always been a little odd annoying weird unique. I rarely show if I care what others think of me. I'll wear and say what I want because it's true or honest to myself. Why am I suddenly so desperate to get the approval of others?

*le sigh*

So I'm going to try this again. 

Here's the main purpose of my blog: 
I need to have a place to document my crafts and hobbies.
I need to craft and hobby because it's therapy for me.

And some potential perks that I need to not be so worried about:
If others think my content is good and want to follow me.
If I can one day earn money from my blog.
If I'll be the next Ree Drummond.

I'm going to be true to myself and recommit to doing this for me... Again.

Besides, how can I let anything be a higher priority than this spunky family?

Yes, we all have the same hairstyle.

So here I go again...
My latest project will hopefully help me to stay true to myself and my goals.
You'll see why on Monday.

Paint, Staples, & Tacks

Here's just a sneak peek at what I'm currently working on. 

Be sure to check back on Monday (the 20th) when I post about this project!

Genna!

I've made a few friends since I began this here blog. And some of them have been through swapping ads with me. Take Genna for example. She's super nice and I  really like both the look of her blog as well as her posts. Check it out, but first, learn a little bit about her.

.............................................................................

Hello lovely Gourmet by Janae readers!

My name is Genna from Freed at Last and I am so thrilled to be able to join you all by sponsoring Janae this month. I hope you will take a minute to stop by and check out my little corner of blogland and say hello.

My blog came about as a way to document my transition from student to professional and girlfriend to wife. Big, scary life stuff, ya know? The name of my blog is a whole different ball game that you can hear about in my first vlog.

Before I started blogging I thought all a blog was was an unreliable source for a research paper that irritated me when I was googling.

Boy was I wrong!

My blogging venture began when a friend of mine began hers. I read, found other blogs, read some more and became fascinated by the community it formed. Like seriously, where else in the WWW do you find hundreds thousands millions of people coming together to share their stories, support one another of just leave a nice comment? Uh, nowhere.

So when I started my blog, I had high expectations. And let me tell you, I have not been disappointed! Take Janae for example, she spent hours emailing me to try and help me set up my sponsor page on Passionfruit which I still am not sure functions properly.

Other than some beautiful people, you come across some cool stuff by blogging as well.



Exhibit A: my Clarisonic Mia

via

This little babe has been the answer to years of acne for me! I can't promise that it will cure any and all issues for you though I would place a hefty bet on it, but it worked wonders for me!



Exhibit B: my Erin Condren planner

I could stare at this beautiful thing forever!

I saw this on a fellow blogger's blog and then about 2435839405 more after that. I started researching and realizing this may end my crappy-planner-that-always-ends-up-crumbled-in-the-bottom-of-my-purse woes. It definitely has ended those and added something special to my life. Oh, planner. How I love thee.



I could go on for days about the benefits of blogging, but I'll head back over to my page and I hope to "meet" a few of you very soon! Thanks for sharing your space, Janae :)

Converting to Clip-Ons, Again

I mentioned that I was in two weddings so far this year in an earlier post and that I got earrings for pierced ears from both brides.

For my good friend Stephanie's wedding, she gave each bridesmaid a couple of sets of coordinating earrings and let us choose which ones to wear. One was a set of elegant pearl studs, another was a set of stunning rhinestone and pearl dangles. Since I had just chopped my hair off and it was styled into a fuchsia fauxhawk for her wedding, I decided to go with the dangling earrings to add a little extra femininity to myself for the occasion.

Now, when it comes to earrings, I abhor the cheap, gaudy clips that are sold in bulk from craft stores. They're awful! They're bulky, and HUGE on my dainty little earlobes, and they ruin the look of any earring. If I can't find something nice from a locally owned bead shop, I like to go into stores like Claire's, find a few sets of clip on earrings that are broken, buy them discounted, and use the clips from those. The clips on earrings from stores like those tend to be smaller, shinier, and all-around prettier. They're usually just silver plated (because sterling silver is pricey), but I'm okay with that and so is my skin. 

So I looked at my earrings that I had bought from stores like those for occasions like this, and found a set that worked out nicely. The shape of the rhinestones doesn't exactly match, but it's not that noticeable for how quick of a fix this was (since it was the morning of the wedding when I fixed them--I had only received them the night before!).

Simple and elegant. 

I still like them and wear them on occasion!